Evangelical Campus Nuremberg

Evangelical Campus Nuremberg (ECN) with sustainable façade from WICONA

In Nuremberg the building complex of the former central post office built in the 1970s is being completely renovated under plans drawn up by the architects Franz & Sue (Vienna) – and will be opened in 2026 as the new Evangelical Campus Nuremberg (ECN). As part of this process, the 50-year-old aluminium and glass façade was completely dismantled, recycled and replaced with a new aluminium system made from sustainable Hydro CIRCAL alloy from WICONA.

Transformation while conserving resources

The office complex, located in the inner city of Nuremberg, was built in the 1970s and was the head office of the regional postal administration there for many years. As the new owner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (ELKB) decided to transform the old "concrete fortress" into the innovative "Evangelical Campus" educational establishment, as part of a resource-saving renovation. After the renovation is complete, the building will provide a modern facility for around 2,000 students, school pupils and teachers. The existing 11-storey high-rise block with base will be expanded with tasteful additional levels, and in future feature high, open and glazed spaces.

Using embodied energy for significant CO2 reduction

During the renovation the client has attached great importance to a sustainable energy concept – including a photovoltaic system and green roofs as well as charging stations for electric cars. In addition, there was a requirement to make the best possible use of the embodied energy used in the construction or to reuse it. Günter Weissteiner, managing director of ELKB, explained: "After the renovation is complete, the ECN will have an energy demand of around 64 kilowatt hours per square metre. This figure was previously 195 kilowatt hours. Thanks to the systematic use of embodied energy instead of constructing a new building, we are saving a total of 6,500 tonnes of CO2.

Façade solution for a circular economy

An important contribution to CO2 savings is achieved by the recyclable façade renovation of the 11-storey block (building section B) along with other components, implemented by Saint-Gobain Glass and Heinrich Würfel Metallbau GmbH (Sontra) in cooperation with WICONA. Heinrich Würfel, managing director of the metal construction specialists explains the special features of this: "Right from the start

we included the existing façade in the tender, with the aim of returning the disassembled raw materials into the recyclable resource cycle. All the work on the façade was done just-in-time – partly due to the very limited space available in Nuremberg city centre. The old ribbon window façade was removed in sections, loaded onto reusable transport racks and driven to the Heinrich Würfel works. Here the façade was separated into individual components and then returned to the WICONA and Saint-Gobain Glass recycling plants. The next step was to produce new aluminium profiles and glazing within the circular economy. The specialists at Heinrich Würfel then produced the new façade units for the Evangelical Campus Nuremberg from the aluminium alloy Hydro CIRCAL 75R by WICONA. Sebastian Schäfer, Key Account Manager at WICONA, explained: "The alloy consists of at least 75% recycled end-of-life aluminium and has a CO2 footprint of only 1.9 kg CO2 per kg aluminium." These units were finally transported to the construction site and professionally installed in the gutted shell.

Greater convenience and falling energy costs

The façade of the ECN produced by Heinrich Würfel Metallbau – covering around 10,600 m2 – uses façade units designed specifically for this project from the WICONA WICTEC EL Systems and also stick constructions from the WICTEC 50 series. These create a harmonious overall look to the new campus site. At the same time they will in future enable improved conditions in the buildings in terms of thermal insulation, sound insulation and solar shading and thus, last but not least, a significant reduction in energy consumption.

WICONA Used systems

WICTEC EL EVO